Okay, so the day I saw the functioning Wii U and its new controller, my head flooded with ideas, and the first one that came to mind for me was a semi-persistant world third/first person shooter with real-time-strategy elements. Yes, I realize first and third person shooters are a dime a dozen nowadays, flooding with variation after variation on every system, but I have had ideas in my head just waiting for a system like the Wii U to come out. I'm already a rabid fan of the Wiimote/nunchuk combo, but when I saw the Wii U controller, I was amazed at the possibilities there. Here's the basic breakdown of how my new system will work.
First off, I'll list the elements necessary for this concept to work. First is a large private plug-in storage medium. Basically, a designated USB harddrive which will be formatted to function specifically with the game. Second is simultaneous multi-controller function (meaning, one player will be able to swap between one type of controller and another smoothly in-game without missing a beat). Third is audio input device (a headset). Fourth is a server system specifically to host and store the game world. These are the basic ingredients for my game.
Okay, so here's the execution. A base game will be made and released as a packaged/unpackaged option. In the packaged option, you will receive the headset, specialized USB harddrive, and the game disks. In the unpackaged option, you only receive the game disks. The base game you buy will contain a story scenario designed to train you how to use both playstyles (getting into that in a moment), the map development system, the character design system, and the weapon modulization system. This game is meant to support limitless customization and will hopefully be a whole new experience every year you play it because of constant player and developer improvements.
On day one, the game will give you access to a set list of completely modular weapons parts which will allow you to custom make your own weapon (or choose from preset pieces). Off the top of my head, I can already think of quite a list of ways to make this interesting, and the game will have a complex calculation system that will make it so that each completed weapon will be appropriately balanced for how it will behave when used in-game.
The modules I can think of right now are stock, action, barrel, underbarrel attachments, sight/scope system, grips, round-types, cooling system, barrel attachments, and body shell. A gun doesn't require all of these parts to be applied to function, but obviously, some are necessary. Beyond those parts, the game will support application of custom or uniform paint/camo system, and will also support etching/inscribing of the weapon.
The play styles will be incredibly different, and there will be two basic positions in-game. First is the commanding officer. This is a position you can choose to play as, and as a commanding officer, you will will use the new Wii U controller primarily. On that controller, you have a functioning map, which allows you to see the entire battlefield from a top-down view with a sort of "fog of war" effect. You can see the basic terrain layout at all times, but otherwise, knowing where enemy troops are is only possible if they are in line of sight of a living soldier, or if you have a surveillance system in place. Soldiers can be equipped with limited time "intelligence spikes" which are basically cameras which have a limited battery life and can feed soldier data directly to the commanding officer. The commanding officer can also transmit commands to soldiers, indicating where he needs them to go, and how he needs them to act. For example, a commanding officer may recieve info on the enemy troops guarding an ammo depot on the map, and can fluidly tell soldiers not only where they need to go, but also what route they need to take to get there to most effectively carry out a mission. Commanding officers can also paint concealed targets for their soldiers if they are spotted. For example, say you have sent some of your soldiers into a valley, and they were killed by a sharpshooter concealed in the hills. You can put a digital flag on that position so that more troops can know what they're shooting at when they come into the position. Commanding Officers can also use the Wii U controller to paint entire zones as "safe zones" or "danger zones" by outlining the position with the stylus.
Soldiers will be primarily using the Wiimote/nunchuk combination to control their person. They will obviously recieve all the information the commanding officer sends them in the form of simultaneous display. On-screen, there is no heads-up-display. Just a first-person view of your world. All of your HUD information is going to be on your Wii U controller. It will have your map, with all the information your CO sends you, and will also list your inventory, weapons settings, and weapon status (ammo, heat, damage layout, etc.) The Soldier will play the game just like any first person shooter, the playstyle being very similar to that of Call of Duty games.
Notice I mentioned weapon status in the Soldier description. Your weapon that you design in the game starts out fresh in proper working order at the start of each "round" and can be damaged by any number of things throughout the game. It's possible to avoid this damage, but sometimes soldiers will not be able to avoid it. If a bullet hits the gun, it does damage to the weapon, sometimes making it totally unusable. Also, overheating your weapon does damage to it, sometimes requiring you take more extreme measures to cool it down for use again.
Another Soldier's feature is to use your Wii U controller as a more malleable view of the world around you. Say you want to put your gun down and inspect it or you want to recieve direct feed from a surveillance spike you placed earlier, you can do that with the Wii U controller. On that screen, you will be able to look at your custom weapon at any angle, and even interact with it. For example, say you want to etch something into your gun with your combat knife while on the battlefield. You can actually scratch free-style anything into your gun at any time you want. You can do things like tally things on it, put a custom symbol on it, or whatever you want.
And the level designer. My idea is that this whole game will be made up of modular pieces. That means everything from maps to guns to characters. For the map designer, it will take advantage of the accuracy and power of both the wiimote and the Wii U controller. In the level designer, you will be able to fly around using the Wiimote and then press a button to freeze your screen in a position for fine control with the Wii U controller, where you will be able to select pieces to build with, ranging from plants and vegetation, to concrete tubes and vehicles. Using the touch screen and dual analog pads on the Wii U controller, you can rotate, resize, and merge pieces, even saving merged and resized pieces for later use in your library. Also, you will be able to manipulate what parts are made of (with limitations). You can select if you want a structure to be destructible, or permanent, and can also select how the physics engine treats the pieces, whether it is influenced by gravity, or fixed in place. Players who design maps well can submit their pieces for voting, so that their maps can be uploaded if selected to be used for non-private matches as part of the modular multi-map system. The idea behind the multi-map system is that all maps made will be of uniform size, and will be interchangable with eachother, so that an online match can be waged over many maps, all interlocked and rendered as-needed by the players. Players will be able to make map modules themselves which will be stored on the world-generating server and used regularly until maps are cycled through for the next set. This keeps the world fresh and ever-changing, and allows players to shape the trend of the world. The map editor will also allow players to push and pull the ground to create hills, valleys, and trenches.
Finally, there will be a character and outfit developer. Using the character developer, you are able to select from a variety of body types, skin color, and select the gender of your soldier. You will also be able to manipulate the features of the face to best suit your liking. The outfit developer will allow you to choose from a list of garments and armor pieces to make the look you like most, and also to select from colors and camos or designs you want your player to have. When you host a clan/nation, you will be able to select which outfits your soldiers will wear. Players also will be able to choose from a variety of attachment points on the body for where their weapons and varying items will be strapped in. If a player wants their weapon strapped to their vest, they can do that, or have it slung over their back, or any of the other positions. You can also select the helmets/hats which players can wear.
Outside of online multiplayer the game will support split screen mode allowing for up to four soldiers and a commander to play simultaneously on a single map module. This allows players to have fun in 2 vs. 2 mode, or to act as a team in co-operative mode against the computer with a commanding officer being player five with the Wii U controller.
Obviously a game with this much going on would take quite a long time to develop, and would require some heavy convincing marketing for it to get up and running, but once it's up, it should be able to make alot of money not only for the game developers, but also for Nintendo as the host to the most ambitious ongoing console-based sandbox warfront in history.
Personal Aside 1: Okay, so yes, I'm a massive Nintendo fanboy. Their approach to the gaming industry has touched my idealistic side, and with their revolutionary new ideas with each new thing they do, I think they really deserve to have the future of interactive entertainment put into their safekeeping. They may not necessarily be as ambitious as I wish they were, but competition breeds excellence, so I know it's only right for them to have to learn from their own mistakes and those of their competition. Also, I'm a HUUUUGE fan of motion gaming. I truely grew bored of video gaming on the 360 rather early on as the control was clunky, heavy, and the buttons were poorly placed for fluid control. With far fewer buttons, incredible control is achieved with the Wiimote and nunchuk so quickly. It's intuitive, and also much more skill-oriented. I believe the future of competitive gaming must pull away from the dual-analogs and find a seat in a good motion-control system.
Personal Aside 2: Okay, so credit where it's due... there have been many many games which led to this grand full idea, and they're pretty easy to see. First off was the first game I ever played with customizeable characters, which was Soul Calibur III. That game had a very in-depth character maker that allowed you to choose from many many different parts to make your fighter look exactly how you wanted. It allowed color customization and many clothing parts. This was the first game I truely became completely lost in. I designed dozens of characters a year for that game and kept on playing it with anybody who would challenge me. Then came Second Life, which I adored. Being able not only to choose from looks, but to make them from scratch was amazing, but it didn't have as lasting an effect on me, because there was very little you could do with what you made. I discovered that what I liked most about making things was seeing them in action, and Second Life had no action. Then came Black Ops. I played the Wii version first, which had very little customization aside from weapon customization, and then tried out the PC version, and was blown away by how much you could manipulate about your character in that game. I didn't play the PC version long, though, because I find FPS games incredibly boring on the computer, and really only like it with motion controls now. I truely believe multiplayer competitive sandbox gaming is going to make up the bulk of hardcore gaming in time not too far distant from now, and content is going to be increasingly more important the further into this future of gaming we go. Once a game like this is released, players will be more than willing to buy more and more content for it to their particular liking, and with everything in the game being modular, players will have alot to choose from when shopping for in-game content. It won't be all mandatory updates either. If a player wants to buy more map parts for their map developer, they can. If they want to buy more clothing parts, they can. Another way to make this work would be to charge a subscription fee for the game charging players only to play it, and handling all updates uniformly for subscription players.
